MOAB, Utah (AP) -- A mature buck deer in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the Division of Wildlife Resources said Friday.

Biologists believe the buck was killed by a mountain lion.

"This is the first deer to test positive for CWD in Utah this year," said Leslie McFarlane, a division wildlife biologist.

Last year, six of the 244 deer sampled in the La Sal Mountains tested positive for the disease.

The DWR has collected samples from 207 animals across the state for testing this year, and wants to collect more than 2,700 samples.

"We'll be taking samples from deer in specific units and from elk in the Uintah Basin and southeastern Utah," McFarlane said.

A map of the units that will be sampled this year can be viewed at the DWR's Web site http://www.wildlife.utah.gov

Results from samples that have been submitted, and information about chronic wasting disease, are also available at the site.

Chronic wasting disease attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to display abnormal behavior and eventually become emaciated and die. There is no evidence the disease can spread to people.

Once thought to exist only in the wild in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming, the ailment has been found in wild and captive deer and elk in Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and two Canadian provinces.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=118740

> Biologists believe the buck was killed by a mountain lion.>

OH, this is great, now we have the very likelyhood of TSEvia CWD transmitted to another species and on and on;

some 100+ _documented_ TSE cats of all types later...tss

on occassions, materials obtained from slaughterhouses will be derived from sheep affected with scrapie or cattle that may be incubating BSE for use in petfood manufacture...

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/05/03007001.pdf

Meldrum's notes on pet foods and materials used

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/05/16001001.pdf

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/05/16002001.pdf

IN CONFIDENCE CJD TO CATS...

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/05/18002001.pdf

Confidential BSE and __________________

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/05/22012001.pdf

1st case natural FSE

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1990/05/09002001.pdf

FSE and pharmaceuticals

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1990/05/10005001.pdf

can't forget about the mad man and his mad cat;

Deaths of CJD man and cat linked

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/184558.stm

In October 1998 the simultaneous occurrence of spongiform encephalopathy in a man and his pet cat was reported. The report from Italy noted that the cat did not display the same clinical features as FSE cases previously seen. Indeed, the presence of a new type of FSE was suggested. The man was diagnosed as having sporadic CJD, and neither case (man nor cat) appeared to be affected by a BSE-related condition.

Reports on the clinical symptoms presented by these cats give a relatively homogeneous picture: Affected cats show a lack of coordination with an ataxia mainly of the hind limbs, they often fall and miss their target when jumping. Fear and increased aggressiveness against the owner and also other animals is often seen. They do not longer tolerate to be touched (stroked) and start hiding. These behavioural chances might be the result of a hypersensibility to touch and noise, but also to increased fear. Excessive salivation is another more frequently seen symptom. Cats with FSE in general show severe behavioural disturbances, restlessness and depression, and a lack of coat cleaning. Symptoms in large cats in general are comparable to those in domestic cats. A report on FSE (in german) has been presented in 2001 in the Swiss FVO Magazin. A paper on the first FSE case in a domestic cat in Switzerland is currently in press in the Journal Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde (SAT).